Finmeccanica has to raise cash and the sale of Ansaldo Energia could be the quickest and most painless way to obtain new capital. For this, writes MF, Ansaldo Energia Holding (55% Finmeccanica and 45% First Reserve) was merged into Ansaldo Energia approximately six months ahead of the scheduled date – lThe merger has already been effective since June 30th. In this way the holding company created ad hoc ceases to exist and with 100 million of fresh capital and 570 million of debt it has become part of the operating company. Of the total debts, 273 million are a vendor loan from Finmeccanica, while the rest are credit lines made available to a pool of banks made up of Bnp Paribas, Unicredit and Banca IMI.
A explaining the speed with which the operation was carried out could be that Finmeccanica intends to sell Ansaldo Energia by the end of the year. According to some rumors, Siemens would be interested in buying. The operation is opposed by politics and unions but the Germans would be ready to value the company at around 1,3 billion, while with the 2011 operation the valuation was just over 1 billion.
"In our opinion, this news is positive as it shows that the sale of Ansaldo Energia is close", commented the analysts of Intermonte which have a buy rating on the Finmeccanica stock with a target price of 5 euros.
At Piazza Affari, Finmeccanica shares lost 0,66% to 3,628 euros per share.
